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Texas optometrists reopen in with health precautions in place

The Wichita Falls TSO, located on Kell Freeway practices a fever-free zone by taking people's temperatures before entering the business.(Photo: CHRISTOPHER WALKER/TIMES RECORD NEWS)

Optometrists remained open during the coronavirus shutdown to assist patients with emergency eye care. With new health safety precautions in place, optometrists resumed regular patient visits in Texas May 8.

TOA President Dr. Mario Contaldi said, "Optometrists filled an extremely important role in the early days of the crisis by providing emergency eye care services to people, which kept them out of emergency rooms and other health care offices where the possibility of encountering the coronavirus was much, much higher.”

Dr. Contaldi said optometrists are trained in infection control because they have experience diagnosing and treating a variety of eye infections. He said doctors are prepared to safely take care of patient needs.

Dr. KyLeigh McKeever, OD, with Texas State Optical (TSO) in Wichita Falls, said prior to the coronavirus situation, the office’s three optometrists saw about 15-20 patients a day each.

In late March through April, patient traffic slowed to just a few patients a week.

“At the very beginning, before the lockdown, we started to slow down – kind of like we are with reopening. We were seeing less patients, checking people’s temperatures to make sure they didn’t have a fever and weren’t sick. We asked them the typical questions about travel and stuff like that,” she said.

Throughout the situation, the office remained open for emergency care and offered curbside pickup of glasses or contact lenses.

TSO optometrists rotated working hours to make sure only one doctor was in the office at a time to reduce exposure risk.

Patients coming into the TSO office can expect to see some changes for health safety.

A “STOP” sign at the entrance advises customers to use the provided hand sanitizer and wait for a staff member to take their temperature with a forehead thermometer.

The office aims to provide a “fever-free” environment and anyone with a fever or other illness symptoms will be asked to visit at another time.

McKeever said patients are not required to wear masks, but many choose to, and all office staff and optometrists will be wearing masks.

The seating in the waiting area is spread out to allow six feet of social distance.

TSO extended their hours to limit the number of patients in the office at any one time. Their new office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

People can still request curbside pickup for glasses or contacts and staff will bring the items to the car.

Aside from the masks, distancing and temperature checks, Dr. McKeever said not much has changed, as their office already maintained a high standard of hygiene. Staff and optometrists wash their hands often and wipe down equipment between patients.

When customers are trying on glasses, they are asked to place the used glasses on counter next to the racks so that each pair can be sanitized.

After reopening, Dr. McKeever said the TSO doctors started seeing about half the previous patient load with time blocked off between patients for cleaning. Now, she said they are seeing about 10-15 patients a day, per optometrist.

The TSO office is located at 4210 Kell W Blvd., suite #108. The office is undergoing construction (unrelated to the virus situation) to remodel and expand from five patient rooms to seven.

Claire Kowalick, a senior journalist for the Times Record News, covers local government, military and MSU Texas. If you have a news tip, contact Claire at ckowalick@gannett.com.